Alone With His Guitar [Enhanced]

Hank Williams Sr. | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 19, 2000)
• Original Release Date: September 19, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Mercury Nashville
• ASIN: B00004YLOG
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,965 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Country & Western
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 19-SEP-2000

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raw Hank, January 8, 2003

By 

James E. Bagley "Jim Bagley" (Sanatoga, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alone With His Guitar (Audio CD)

Hank's brief career fortunately coincided with the dawn of affordable tape recording. Thus the preservation of these ten 1949 Shreveport, Louisiana,radio broadcasts plus eight demos. As the title indicates, he's singing with no accompaniment except for his guitar. "The vocal-guitar demo leaves no place to hide, and it was in this context that Hank was at his most riveting," say the notes. From a practical standpoint, the intimate context also spared him the cost of sidemen.

Thanks to the Grammy winning The Complete Hank Williams, there's nothing new here, yet conceptually this package rises far above mere recycling, starting with the primitive cover art by original Mekon Jon Langford and William Gay's essay (narrated by lookalike grandson Hank III on the enhanced CD, which offers lyric sheet, bio, screen saver and more). The sound is surprisingly clean considering the low-tech recording equipment that was used.

Some demos have lines that subsequent studio versions revised. Even the comic "Kaw-Liga" - clearly a work in progress - conveys heartbreak in the voice. While Hank Sr.'s way with a word is well known, the 11 covers found here - including Roy Acuff, Sons Of The Pioneers and Red Foley songs - are among the peaks. Whereas Ernest Tubb portrayed the disillusioned husband of "First Year Blues" with humor, Williams' version aches with the first-hand experience of his own awful marriage. The white blues never got much bluer than Hank's.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Music, July 10, 2001

By 

Fletcher Mclynne (seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alone With His Guitar (Audio CD)

Many of the other reviews say that this is targeted towards hardcore Hank Williams fans and it shouldn't even be on the market and Mercury records dosn't care about the fans and blah blah blah. Well this is the first Hank Williams record I have ever bought and I think it's excellent. I am a fan of good folk music and this is a great album featuring a single man with a soulful voice alone with his guitar, and that is all that really matters. So give it a listen if you like Woody Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, or anybody else by the likes of them. Forget Mercury records, forget the attempt to cash in on Hank Williams; just listen to his incredible songs.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "A MUST" for Diehard Hank Williams & Classic Country Fans!, December 9, 2002

By 

"smashlimousines" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alone With His Guitar (Audio CD)

I can't believe I'm the first to review this; I expected reams of praise for this album. Now, if you've never listened to Hank, I respect you if this is your choice, but first-timers should really go for the 40-singles CD. For all the rest, it's Hank Williams: Unplugged. It's a little raw, just him and guitar of course, but it sounds great, not scratchy at all. Excellent songcraft, voice, and guitar. This is the first album I've reviewed, and don't plan on making it a habit, so trust me, this is one fine album. Hearing Hank do 'Cool Water' is great, so are a bunch of the others. In conclusion, this is a good album.